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Why use Hercules Health for your policies and procedures?
Our previous ow
ners bought templated policies in 2003 and when I joined as the RN, the printed policies were 10 years old, while the digital copies were more recent. Most of the time, it felt like we were running the facility on multiple versions of every policy. And even when we overhauled the whole policy suite in 2017, managing them took a lot of time, money, and effort. We learned that the hard way when COVID policies kept on changing and coming from multiple agencies in 2020.
Since coming on board with Hercules Health, we were able to remove 1 FTE of RN hours because that’s how much time it took keeping up and writing policies ourselves. Based on RN wages today, that’s savings of approximately $100K
We will forever sing praises of how Hercules continues to be a huge part of our success, both as an organisation and personally, for Elaine, Yana and me, as owners.
Running and owning an aged care facility (and even winning awards) have been far less stressful, thanks to having a one-stop-shop like Hercules Health.
Andrea De Leon
Co-owner
Queen Rose Retirement Home (Dunedin)
HCSL has been a game-changer for our organization!
Having a unified system that streamlines employment processes, enhances clinical documentation, and improves governance oversight has made a huge difference in efficiency and care quality. The fact that it has led to better audit results and freed up more time for resident care is the biggest gain for me.
I have experienced other systems over the years, HCSL is the simplest, easiest and most user friendly one yet.
Keep up the great work team.
Kind Regards,
Sheryl Lilly, General Manager
Scovan Healthcare Ltd.
Written By
Jessie Snowdon, New Zealand Registered Physiotherapist, Director On the Go Physio Limited, March 2022
Two years into New Zealand’s journey with COVID and these days can seem harder than ever.
We have endured lock downs and now we are in this strange no-man’s land where it feels for
many older adults, that in order to stay safe we must stay home.
Strength is IMPORTANT!
If you are not getting your usual physical activity, or if you have never been that keen on
exercise (!) then you should try and build in some structured exercise every day. Exercise can
come in many ways – gardening, bowls, walking – and although these are all excellent ways
to get in your recommended 150 minutes a week, the real hero of the story is building
strength.
As we age we naturally lose muscle strength, and our muscle fibres change – but age is NOT
a barrier to improving strength and muscle mass. We know that there is a direct link between
strengthening exercises and decreased risk of falls, and we all want that!
How can I strengthen my muscles?
In order to make change you must put your muscles under a certain load…and this means it
must be hard! The great news is that you don’t need to spend much time, if you hit the right
level of ‘hardness’. You can work through a strength programme in 10 minutes!
We recommend that you start with 10 repetitions of each exercise for a few days, and then
find the level at which doing 6-8 of the exercise feels “hard”. “Hard” means that you don’t
feel you could do any more without a rest.
When you have established that level you should work through your whole programme then
take a 2 minute rest. Then, guess what? Do it all again!
Which muscles should I strengthen?
You should strength the muscles you need for function. This means the ones you need for
every day activities like standing up from a chair, walking fast, picking up objects and helping
with balance.
The programme below covers off all of these.
Is there anything I should be careful of?
With all exercise you should be aware of and stop if you experience pain in your muscles or
joints, chest pain, severe shortness of breath or severe dizziness. Remember though that
when you work your muscles hard you can expect to have slight soreness the next day or so,
especially when you have just started.
Ok I’m ready! Show me the exercises!
As you are all individuals it is hard to prescribe one set of exercises for everyone. You will
need to apply some common sense and ensure you feel safe during each exercise. If you are
unsteady, or usually use a walking stick or frame, then ensure you are holding on to the bench
or table – or have your frame in front.
Ready….let’s go!
Exercise one – Standing up and sitting down This works the muscles you need to get from a chair but also to bend down, walk, climb stairs – it is an excellent all-round functional exercise.
❖ Start in a firm chair that you know you can stand up from.
❖ Using both hands lean forward and then stand up.
❖ Repeat this 6-8 times.
Easy? Make it harder by…
- Speeding up.
- Just use one hand.
- Use no hands (cross arms across chest).
- Sitting on a lower seat.
- Holding something heavy in your arms such as bottled water, or some weights.
Exercise two – rising up onto tiptoes
As long as you aren’t hanging on for dear life this is an excellent whole leg work out.
You need strong calf muscles to walk and for balance.
❖ Hold onto a steady surface such as a kitchen bench or back of a chair.
❖ Rise up onto your tip toes, as high as you can.
❖ Try to go straight up, not forward.
❖ Repeat 6-8 times.
Easy? Make it harder by…
- Decreasing your hand grip so you just use index fingers.
- Putting a back pack on with weights such as bottled water in it.
- Lift one leg off the ground and take all the weight on one side!
Exercise three – standing on one leg
This works the muscles around your hips and is excellent for stability and balance.
❖ Hold onto a steady surface.
❖ Make your left leg strong and gently lift your right.
❖ Focus hard to ensure your hips stay level – your trunk and shoulders shouldn’t move!
❖ Hold for 5 seconds then swap sides.
❖ Repeat 6-8 times on each side
Easy? Make it harder by
- Standing for 10 seconds
- Decreasing how much you use your hands, change to just index fingers, or no hands!
Exercise four – push ups!
Strong arms are essential for helping you pick up and carry objects, and to push yourself up from a chair, bed or the floor. We often neglect our arms so make sure to include this one!
❖ Stand with your hands against the wall, have a chair next to you if needed.
❖ With fingers spread and arms close to your body allow your elbows to bend so you
come closer to the wall.
❖ Breath out and push away back into standing.
❖ Repeat 6-8 times.
Easy? Make it harder by…
- Using the bench to lean on instead of the wall.
- Increase your speed.
This is an excellent starting point with four functional exercises. If you repeat all these then
you should have a good 10-minute daily walk out. If you would like so extra balance
exercises then read on!
EXTRA BALANCE EXERCISES
Balance exercises are harder to prescribe as everyone is at very different levels and you need to keep safe! Here are some options for balance work but ensure you are by a sturdy surface and work within your abilities.
Exercise one: Standing still balance
❖ Stand with your feet together, without holding on, for 10 seconds
Easy? Make it harder by…
- Turning your head slowly side to side.
- Closing your eyes (with care).
- Changing your foot position into “step”.
Exercise two: walking backwards
❖ Carefully walk backwards alongside your bench. If you normally use a frame or walking
stick then ensure you use if for this exercise.
❖ Focus on long, slow steps.
Exercise three: walking in a figure 8
❖ In an open space you can put down two objects (salt and pepper shakers, two water
bottles) about 1 metre apart.
❖ Weave around these in a figure 8.
❖ Use your walking frame or stick if this is normal for you.
Easy? Make it harder by…
- Moving the objects closer.
- Going faster!
Congratulations!
You are now carrying out a great exercise plan. If you are able to you
should include regular walking at a good pace out in the community. You should also
ensure that once you have done your daily exercises you don’t sit down the rest of day.
Every 30 minutes you should be up on your feet, even if just for a minute or two.
If you would like more advice or and individualised treatment plan then we offer clinic,
home and online appointments and would love to help you regain and maintain your
strength.
Original Article By: Jessie Snowdon, New Zealand Registered Physiotherapist, Director On the Go Physio Limited, March 2022
As you will be aware, assisted dying will be legally available in New Zealand from November 7 when the End-of-Life Choice Act 2019 comes into effect.
The introduction of assisted dying means that a person with a terminal illness who meets the eligibility criteria can request medication to relieve their suffering and end their life.
The Act sets out the legal framework and a high-level process for accessing assisted dying, including strict eligibility criteria and safeguards.
Assisted dying is not a replacement for palliative care or health care services more generally. It provides another option for people with a terminal illness in certain circumstances.
Assisted dying remains illegal until 7 November 2021. The Ministry of Health will be responsible for the Act and has an implementation programme underway to implement the assisted dying service.
This may impact hospitals, care facilities and retirement villages across the country in an entirely new way, so we at Healthcare Compliance Solutions Ltd have been following the Ministry of Health’s guidance along the way, to ensure our policies and procedures help our new and existing clients through the process, as best as possible.
If you would like to learn more about how Healthcare Compliance Solutions can help you and your orgnisation.
“HCSL has been incredibly easy to navigate since we went live on the system on the 1st of October. Our team have people with varying levels of technology literacy and the ease of this system has meant that staff are more confident to use technology and see how it can help to improve time management by not having to double or triple up on written documentation.”
Manager
Alexander House Rest Home